It might not be clear from a glance, but there are a lot of underlying protocols and processes happening in the background for your computer to do even basic tasks. One important component of accessing websites is DNS, which stands for Domain Name System.

Essentially, DNS translates web addresses that are easy for humans to remember (e.g. www.wikipedia.org) to IP addresses that browsers can use to access sites (e.g. 208.80.154.224 is an IP address owned by Wikipedia).

It’s important to note that DNS is not handled by one system. In a corporate environment, it might be handled by a firewall or server, while at home it’s probably handled by your ISP. However, you can change your DNS settings to whatever you like. This could benefit you with increased stability, performance, and/or security if your current DNS setup isn’t up to snuff.

In Windows, this is accomplished by first typing Network into the Start Menu to access the Network and Sharing Center. Next, click on the name of your network near the top-right by Connections: and choose Properties in the resulting window.

Now, you’ll need to actually provide a DNS address. Thankfully, there are plenty of these available. Have a look at the Public DNS Server List for more than you could ever want, or just pick one of these two popular choices:

Google DNS — 8.8.8.8 for primary, 8.8.4.4 for secondary.

OpenDNS — 208.67.220.220 primary, 208.67.222.222 secondary.

I'm using OpenDNS and I have no freaking idea what the rest of you are complaining about. The Internet works fine. pic.twitter.com/54GP48lPm8

As I see it, changing the DNS server in either the OS or the router, doesn't do any good. The modem (or whatever the interface device happens to be called) supplied by your ISP will still route to the DNS server designated by the ISP.

Perhaps better to tell people to change their DNS settings on their home router instead and leave it up to DHCP to set an alternative DNS server address in Wndows. If they start doing this on their work laptops and they have lazy sysadmins (local admin access) they'll find that after changing their DNS settings they can't log in to the domain when they go to the office and may in fact struggle on some WiFi networks that impose use of their DNS servers by blocking all others.

A full-time writer, Ben is at his happiest when he's working with technology and able to help others. He loves discussing and playing video games, and hosted his own podcast in years past. Feel free to contact him on social media!